The Sad Part Of Happiness
by TCTW
Summary: Set four years after the series' main events. Nicole can no longer put up with Richard's childish behavior, so she leaves him. Meanwhile, Gumball is 16, and a certain date with Penny goes unexpectedly... unexpected. Rated T just in case. UPDATED WITH ALTERNATE ENDING.
1. The sad part of happiness

**Hello everyone! I'm back with yet another TAWOG fanfic, the third one I'll be writing here.  
Now, I'm aware that the show is supposedly ending soon, ****_and_** **that the final episode should be titled "The Future", which I assume will take place in future (because that would be kind of an ultimate heartbreaking ending? That's at least how I see it), but know nothing about yet. So I decided to make another fanfic that would be set in the (near) future, before writing it stops making sense (due to the release of the episode). The idea, I got the other day, out of - honestly - pure boredom. And I thought to myself; why not publish it? While the idea is still fresh! So, there it is.**

 **The main reason I set this fanfic in the future - but not too far in the future, only four years - you'll see in an upcoming chapter.**

 **Anyway, without further ado, here's the story.**

 **THE SAD PART OF HAPPINESS**

 **Chapter 1: The sad part of happiness**

Everybody has a breaking point.

Some people are well aware of it, but there are many more people who aren't exactly keen on acknowledging they have one. They do, too. Regardless of what they themselves claim. It's just that their breaking point is a little higher than that of those firstly mentioned.

The city of Elmore, California, is no different. Well, unlike probably any other city in the world, it is, rather than with humans, inhabited with anthropomorphic everything. Not just animals. Food too. Plants. Clouds. Ghosts and robots, of course. And so on and so forth. Just about anything. But in terms of their everyday routines, it's really not all that much different from your average city.

Each resident of Elmore has a breaking point of their own, too.

Which brings us to one of the many families that lived there.

The Wattersons.

Now, even for themselves, numerous of their acts throughout Elmore have been... out of place. Most lightly said.

However, just as often, members of the Watterson family got into quarrels with each other. Sometimes it was for the most ridiculous reasons, but much more often, those arguments were serious. Because those arguments concerned, among others, money, trust, and respect.

And who took the biggest part in suffering from all that? Of course, the breadwinner of the house.

Nicole Watterson.

Now, it wouldn't be anything unusual that most of a family's housework is done by a single member, and the rest - or at least some of the rest - by the rest of the family. But nothing is ever so simple now, is it? The thing is, Nicole was the only Watterson family member who _ever_ did _anything_ around the house. She had to do all the housework, all the time. While the rest of the family was as irresponsible as one could get. Her husband, Richard, most of all. You'd expect he would take more action in the family's routines as it grows larger. But no. He only grew more irresponsible, lazy, and oaf-like, as time passed.

Naturally, Nicole's family's irresponsibility gave her anger issues.

However, every time she was to vent her anger issues on them, in an attempt to tell them off, make them feel guilty, all that would happen was; she would frighten them, they would remain frightened for a while (and not even a long while), and then they would return to doing whatever made Nicole angry in the first place.

Let's not get confused; she greatly _loved_ her family, but she merely _tolerated_ everything they did.

And at one point, but certainly not all of a sudden, she wasn't able to tolerate her family's actions any longer.

She had reached her breaking point.

Picture this: You come home from a semi-exhausting day at work; you have bags under your eyes. You open the door, only to see your family, the four other members, lying on the couch as if they were glued to it, the house being in utter mess, and obviously none of them having done any single one of the chores you asked them to. Not even take out the trash. Not even... anything.

When it happens once, maybe it's tolerable.

But when it happens every single day all over again, with no sign of change; when you guilt-trip them hundreds of times about it and they're entirely unaffected by your guilt-tripping, when every discussion with your family about their problems only increases them - well, that's not how anything works.

That's what happened to Nicole that Saturday.

As you can guess, none of the other family members thought they had done anything wrong.

Later, around 3 AM, all of Elmore was fast asleep.

Correction: _most_ of it.

Gumball Watterson, Nicole's sixteen-year-old son and her first child, had some troubles sleeping on that specific night. Nothing serious, he was just... not feeling sleepy. He was also very thirsty at the moment, for that matter. Therefore, he thought he could use a glass of water.

"Man, I could really use a glass of water right now." Yeah, like that.

So he got out of his bed and headed downstairs to get himself one. On the way there, he of course walked carefully, not to wake anyone up. As he got downstairs, he headed to the kitchen, grabbed a glass that had been placed nearby, opened the pipe, poured a glass worth of water, and took a big sip.

It felt awesome.

But not for much longer.

Because almost right afterwards, he accidentally turned his head to the window that faced the backyard, and what he saw in the backyard absolutely saddened him.

His mother was sitting in the backyard, with her face buried in her hands, crying. And crying. And crying.

Now, Gumball may be stupid, but he's not an idiot. He knows that nobody would go outside their house at 3 AM, sit down and cry, just out of pure boredom. He figured that this was happening due to all the pain that the rest of the family had been giving her for years. Psychological, of course.

She got fed up with it. Gumball should've seen it coming. But it was too late now to fix anything.

He left his glass in the kitchen, opened the backyard door, and whispered, quietly and with concern:

"Mom?"

Nicole then got her face out of her hands, her face enclosed with tears, and she turned around to face her eldest son.

"Oh, hi, honey..." she whispered back as if nothing was wrong, but her tearful face said otherwise.

"Is everything okay, mom?" Gumball asked, already knowing the answer.

Nicole first needed a few seconds to catch her breath from crying. Then she said:

"No... no, it's not..."

Even though Gumball was expecting to hear something like that, the way she said it - sad, hopeless, depressing - broke his heart.

What he was going to ask next was what was wrong, but he felt like it wasn't anything specific. Not the fact that nobody had done their house chores. Not the fact that he was overly spoiled. Or that Darwin, his brother, basically followed his steps. Or that Anais, his sister, was a smarty-pants. Or that Richard, his father, constantly forgot his and Nicole's wedding anniversary, among numerous other flaws of his.

It was, in some way - all of it.

Gumball didn't know what to do about it. But his mother was still in tears.

So he hugged her.

And of course, as any good mother would do, Nicole wrapped her arms around him, embrace the hug.

Gumball knew that a big part of the reason his mother sat in the backyard and cried was his fault, due to all the mischief he caused in Elmore. So it was now that he felt guilty. Not whenever she got furious at him, for doing whatever wrong he did. No, it was now, when he saw her entirely unhappy.

"I'm sorry, mom..." he said. Nicole looked him in the eyes and asked:

"What for...?"

Gumball just sighed in sadness. "...Everything..." he said. "I'm sorry for all the times I've made you angry..."

Nicole just looked at him. She thought about telling him it had nothing to do with him. But they both knew that wasn't true. So she just said:

"It's okay..."

But Gumball knew it wasn't exactly "okay". Otherwise this wouldn't be happening.

So, what he chose not to ask at first, he asked now.

"So, what's wrong?"

There was a long period of silence after he asked that question. Only the sound of Nicole's tears streaming down her face could be heard. And fireflies, of course. For a good part of said silence, Nicole was thinking about Gumball was prepared to hear what had been on her mind for quite some time.

To answer Gumball's question, Nicole swallowed saliva and told him:

"I'm sorry, honey... I can't live like this anymore..."

And of course, Gumball became heavily worried, because he had no idea what his mother meant by that.

"What are you talking about?" he asked her.

Nicole looked at the ground for a few seconds, wiping the remaining tears from her face. A few more seconds passed in silence. Then, Nicole realized there was no more postponing. It was time she told him. So she took a deep breath. In. And out. Still hesitated for a moment. But it slid.

And she told him.

"I'm thinking about leaving your father."

There were hundreds and hundreds of things Gumball thought his mother would tell him. But not this. Not that his parents were getting divorced.

It broke his heart.

"W-what?" he asked.

"I'm sorry..." Nicole said softly.

And even though he clearly knew _why_ she made such a decision, he wasn't willing to accept it. So he asked:

"But why?" and it were his eyes this time that were coming to tears.

And when Nicole tried to answer it... she didn't really know where to start from. She and Richard had known each other since they were kids. They had spend their whole lives together. And even though he was childish, she still loved him. Because as a child, he was exactly that - a child. Something Nicole never got the chance to be, due to her parents' obnoxious expectations for her. So she started dating him. And the two lived quite a happy life. Naturally, they got married and had children. But, over all those years, Richard was becoming more and more childish. It was kinda cute at the beginning, but he went to extreme as time passed.

It was not the Richard that Nicole knew.

That was about the time when she realized she really only stayed with him out of pity.

But now, she could no longer stand it.

"He's not making me happy anymore..." she told her son.

Gumball, of course, tried to say something to undeceive his mother from divorcing Richard:

"But... but..." but he couldn't think of anything. He really loves his dad, but even he's aware that his dad has so many flaws.

Another long silence.

Nicole now tried to say something, to break the silence - and of course, to comfort her son. But nothing sounded appropriate for the moment.

Another deep breath in and out. Nicole sighed.

"I hope you'll understand," she then said. Then, she looked at Gumball again, kissed him in the forehead, and patted his head. "You should go back to sleep," she said, too.

And that's exactly what Gumball did: just got up and left. Without a word. Without even a glance at her. But with sadness on his face.

Nicole stayed in the backyard for a little while after Gumball went back inside, and just stared at the door, the direction he went. She sighed, and went back inside as well.

The next day, Nicole would be telling Richard all this...

 **There goes the first chapter of The Sad Part Of Happiness. This is actually basically just an introduction. The real story begins in the next chapter. I'm, of course, talking about the part with Gumball and Penny. Until the next chapter, please leave reviews. See you!**


	2. Worried

**Hello again.**

 **Well, as you can see, I'm already on the second chapter of this story, since I already have an idea for it.**

 **To IGotBoredAndChangedMyName, well, as far as I know, the episode will still air, only as the final episode of season 6, instead of debut. That's at least what I saw on TAWOG Wiki. But who knows.**

 **Anyway, here's chapter 2. This one is about the unexpected situation with Gumball and Penny. Let's go!**

 **Chapter 2: Worried**

 **Gumball's POV**

It's been four months since mom and dad got divorced. Mom couldn't put up with dad just sitting on the couch all day and doing nothing and just being an overall sloth all the time. I mean, I know he's my dad and all, but look at him. But he's still my dad and I love him and maybe there could've been another way. I couldn't stand to see it.

But, as many people have been saying for centuries, life goes on.

Although, I have to admit, never even once have I seen mom get all furious at me, or Darwin, or Anais, or anyone for that matter, ever since she and dad got divorced. She's become, like, happy-go-lucky. Like, before the divorce, she was always angry at us for not doing anything around the house, like not doing any chores for the whole day that we were supposed to do since morning; and then she would come home and see we did nothing, and we would be like, sorry, we forgot; and she would be like, no, it's okay; but you could tell it was not okay. And stuff like that. And now, mom and dad are no longer together, everything else is almost exactly the same - and now she's almost always in a happy mood.

I guess she just accepted it or whatever.

It's sad to see that mom's happier without dad.

And dad; he moved back to Granny Jo-jo.

I still remember the exact words Granny Jo-jo told dad when she heard the news.

"I told you that woman was no good."

And of course, I was pissed off when I heard she said that, because, like, I know you don't like her and everything, but that doesn't mean you can insult her! And besides, she's my mom! You're not gonna talk about my mom like that, okay?!

But I guess I just have to let that slide.

We get to see dad every other week. I don't mind constantly moving around. It's kinda cool, actually.

BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT!

What just happened to me is a teeny-tiny bit bigger than all this mishmash between mom and dad.

I'm in a giant mess right now! And I really mean an enormous one! I'm not exaggerating! I hope. No, wait, I'm really not exaggerating! It's horrible! No, wait, I'm not supposed to think it's horrible! And it's not! But it's just... aaargh... I don't know what to do.

For the first time in the sixteen years that I've lived on this planet, I have absolutely zero idea what to do next.

I'm writing this mere minutes after it happened! I need... I don't know what I need... I need help. And I don't know who I should ask for help!

Okay... let me start from the beginning.

Last night, I was on a date with Penny. She's my girlfriend. She's the most immaculate girl I've ever spoken to. She used to be a peanut, but then she broke out of her shell, and now she's absolutely gorgeous! No, divine! No, wait, _divine_ doesn't begin to cover it-

Wait, I'm getting off the subject!

So, we were at Joyful Burger, and we ordered our food, and when we sat down, Penny was like, this is nice, but we've been here a thousand times, let's try something else. And I was like, what do you suggest? But I said it all seductively. I bet it looked stupid as hell. But then, all of a sudden, she was like, let's go bowling.

And in my head I was like, what? Bowling? But I suck at bowling! No, wait, I've never bowled, how can I know I suck at it? Fine, then.

So I was like, yeah, that sounds cool. But in my head I "knew" it would be a disaster.

Turns out I'm amazing at bowling.

Amazing enough, apparently, to make Penny horny.

Her whole family is out of town, so immediately after bowling, we went to her place and - that's right - we had sex!

Remember that I wrote that the inside of her shell is gorgeous? Well, the _inside_ of the inside of her shell is even more gorgeous! It's... I don't know how to say it... It's beyond words. It's way beyond words!

And after that, I just laid there with her, in her bed, and stared at the ceiling, and it was absolutely glorious! The sex, not the ceiling. And we held hands and we cuddled, and suddenly, we did it once more, because it's just that good!

Completely out of blue (Get it? Cause I'm blue... da ba dee, da ba die...), I mastered two kinds of balls last night.

And then, it was morning.

I had to go home to, like, clean myself and everything, and Darwin just stood there, with a smirk on his face. He was like, you stud! And I was like, shut up. And he hugged me, all proud of me. And Anais also probably heard what I did last night and she was like, that's disgusting. And I was like, shut up.

And I was so proud of myself.

But nothing lasts forever, am I right?

Regardless of the fact that I had sex last night, I still had school today. I was, in fact, totally fine with that. But as soon as I got on the bus, and sat next to Penny, and turned my head to her, she looked horribly worried! What about, I didn't know. But something! I was like, hello, beautiful. But she was just like, hi. And she smiled and looked back through the window. In my head I was like, okaaay...?

And for the whole day, Penny wouldn't speak a word. She just looked more and more worried as time passed. She wasn't sick or anything, she was just, like, worried.

And I started to wonder.

And wonder.

No clue.

After last night, she should feel glorious.

And her family still hasn't come back home.

And then came lunch break. And I did what any sane person would do at a lunch break: I ate. Lunch.

I was gonna ask Darwin if he knows what's bothering Penny, but honestly, how would he know?

So I just sat there and ate my lunch. And then:

BAM!

Penny came to me.

"Gumball, we have to talk," she said unspeakably worriedly. "Come to my place after school. I have something important to tell you." And then she stared at the table for one second, and then she walked away.

So, already then did I know I was in trouble. And not exactly a disregardable one. And I started to feel the same way Penny did. Worried. Very worried. I still didn't know what I should be worried about, but now I could see that it was something of actual importance. I gulped.

And after school, I headed straight to Penny's house. Again. When I reached the front door, I looked around. Nobody. Whatever. I pondered whether to knock or to ring.

I knocked.

A couple of seconds later, she showed up.

"Hi, Gumball," Penny said, still worried. "Come in."

I came in and she closed the door. For the next few seconds, no sound whatsoever was made. I just stared at Penny, and Penny stared back at me. No smile on her face. And you could feel the kinda uncomfortable atmosphere in the air. For a few seconds.

"Let's go to my room," she suggested. "It will be easier for me to tell you..."

"No problem," I said with a smirk. But still no smile on her face.

So went upstairs, to her room, and immediately, she sat on her chair. I had no choice but to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Listen..." she started, and I carefully listened. She was now even more worried than she was in school.

"After last night, I kinda felt... not right. And... I couldn't talk to anyone from my family, because they're away... So today, right before school... I went to the doctor to see what it is..."

"Yeah?"

"And..." and then she closed her eyes. A few more seconds passed in complete silence. Maybe even a whole minute. Then she opened her eyes and stared at me. Still complete silence. And then she smiled at me. And somehow, the atmosphere became more hopeful.

But when she said it... I... I can't explain how I felt. I was... I was left in utter shock. I thought I would be able to find a proper reaction to that, but I couldn't believe at all that this was happening. I know I should probably be happy about that, but... I'm not the least bit prepared for it.

I seriously have zero idea, absolutely no idea whatsoever, what to do next.

Maybe I should get a job.

"I'm pregnant."

 **There goes chapter 2. So, Penny is pregnant! And Gumball is in complete shock. How will this be resolved? How will Gumball's family react to this? And how will Penny's family, most importantly Penny's father, react to this? Find out in the next chapter! Until then, leave some more reviews. See you!**


	3. A tear in her left eye

**Hello again. Yeah, I'm already done with the third chapter of this story.**

 **Before all, I would like to thank all the reviews. It seems you find the story good so far, so it makes sense I would continue with it. That, and I've already decided what would happen next.**

 **So, here's chapter 3. This one is in third person POV again. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 3: A tear in her left eye**

Gumball was laying in his bed, staring upwards, eyes wide open. He was in utter disbelief, he felt horribly unstable, and he was beyond shocked. And he had a very good reason to be.

He had just found out that he was going to become a father. In a somewhat ordinary situation, a man would be thrilled to know of such a thing. But this had nothing to do with ordinary. Because Gumball Watterson was just an irresponsible sixteen-year-old boy, nowhere near capable of taking care of a child. Well, that's at least how _he_ felt about it.

After Penny told Gumball the big news, he was completely unable to believe that this was happening, but after calming down as much as he could - which, in all honesty, wasn't really much - the two agreed to tell their families as soon as possible.

"You mean, like, today?" Gumball asked insecurely.

Penny just nodded. And Gumball realized it was probably the right thing to do. Because waiting too long to tell anyone news this big could only do damage.

He had just come home from Penny and laid on his bed. He was still as shocked as when he found out.

At one moment, Anais came into the room, but Gumball didn't notice it, due to being lost deep in his thoughts. Anais immediately began doing her and both of her brothers' homework, because they never did theirs on their own. It wasn't any difficult for her, as usual. However, something in the room didn't feel right to her. While entering the room, she noticed Gumball in his bed with a horrified expression on his face.

She, of course, had no clue whatsoever to the cause of it.

The fact that her brother was acting the way he was at the moment her harder to concentrate on Darwin's homework, so she spoke to him.

"Gumba-"

"AAAAHHH!" Gumball snapped out of his thoughts in an instant. Anais was frightened for a split second, but then she asked:

"Gumball, are you okay?"

Gumball then looked at his sister. He stopped for a second. He let thoughts flow through him. They flew. He gulped.

"Yeah, I'm totally fine, why wouldn't I be?" he lied, insecurely. Then, he got out of his bed. "I gotta go... yeah..." and he left the room.

Only now did he realize he had absolutely no idea how he would tell anyone about this.

He got downstairs and sat on the dining table and instantly fell asleep. His mother was in the kitchen.

"Oh, hi, hone-" Nicole said, but when she saw him asleep, she stopped. She came to him and kissed him on the top of his head.

"I made your favorite," Nicole said, placing a freshly baked cake on the table. But he was still asleep and not at all hungry. Nicole sighed and went on to clean the house. But not before taking one slice of the cake.

* * *

The two hours that Gumball spent sleeping on the dining table, to him, seemed like five seconds. When he woke up, he felt like did not get any sleep at all, and his mother was still in the process of cleaning the house. He saw the cake on the table, and he thought he could use some of it. So he took a slice. After one bite, he was full.

And then, BAM!

The entrance door of the house were crashed, and a lot of smoke appeared. Gumball jumped in his chair. He thought; "Ha? What just happened?" and looked towards the entrance door and the smoke. After the smoke dispersed, Gumball once again gulped. Also for a good reason. Standing there, with his fists clenched tight, was a furious Patrick Fitzgerald, Penny's father.

Penny had told him.

Gumball knew there was no way out of this.

"You!" Patrick went angrily at Gumball. "You little shit! What do you think you're DOING?!" he yelled, furiously walking in his direction, ready to strangle him, right then, right there.

Luckily, Nicole couldn't stand to hear anybody insult her son even for a moment, so she stepped in his way and looked him straight in the eyes, full of rage, being the Nicole Watterson she was before divorcing Richard, at least for a moment.

"That's the last time you called my son that, is that cle-"

"Did I ask _you_ anything?" Patrick interrupted her, visibly even angrier than her. Without even giving her a chance to respond, he then yelled: "Then SHUT UP!" and spoke back to Gumball. "And as for you, touch my daughter ever again and I will-"

"And what?" somebody said. Everybody turned around to see who said that.

It was Penny. Frustrated. Very frustrated.

"What are you doing here, Penny?" Patrick asked her.

"Me?!" Penny said, even more frustrated. "What are _you_ doing here?!"

"Teaching your lovely cute boyfriend a lesson!" Patrick said, full of rage. "And as for you, Penny-"

But then, Nicole unleashed herself.

"WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN STORM IN MY HOUSE JUST LIKE THAT AND START YELLING FOR NO REASON?!"

And to think her calmness was gonna last...

Patrick then looked at Nicole in an almost threatening way, but with an ounce of confusion.

"Did your son not tell you what he did?!" he told her.

"Tell me what?" Nicole was now also confused. Gumball had not told her. Or anyone from his family.

Not yet.

But now was the time.

He looked around, having absolutely zero idea how to tell his family the big news. But he decided to do things one by one.

"Um, mom..." he spoke to Nicole, "...you might wanna call Darwin and Anais from upstairs..." he said nervously.

And so she did.

While Darwin and Anais were coming downstairs, Gumball and Penny approached each other and held hands.

Everyone - Nicole, Darwin, Anais, and Patrick - gathered in front of Gumball and Penny. Nicole was still confused, Darwin and Anais were almost uninterested, but Patrick stood with his arms crossed and an angry facial expression.

"Guys..." Gumball began, extremely nervously, constantly changing whom he was looking in the eyes. "Penny and I have something important to announce." he breathed in and out, heavily.

Patrick was breathing very loudly.

Then, Gumball and Penny looked at each other, and they both nodded. Then Penny took a deep breath.

And then she let it out.

"I'm pregnant."

All of a sudden, everybody except for Patrick reacted as if a bomb had just exploded.

"WHAT THE WHAT?" Darwin and Anais shouted.

"How did this happen?" Darwin asked, and Gumball looked at him in disappointment.

"Dude, I think you should already know how it happened." he told him.

Nicole, at first, didn't know what to say. She was now the one who was looking at everyone. However, she was thrilled by this news.

"That's... that's great!"

"What?!" Patrick then shouted. "What's great about this?! Are you kidding me?! Have you no shame?!"

"Look, Mr. Fitzgerald," Anais then came in, "I know you're not ha-"

"Did I ask _you_ anything?" Patrick interrupted her the same way she did with Nicole.

"No..."

"Then shut up!"

But then Nicole spoke to Patrick.

"What's wrong with you, Mr. Fitzgerald? You should be proud of your daughter. You're gonna be a gra-"

"PROUD?!" Patrick shouted, and looked at Nicole angrily, as if she had just sworn. "OF THIS?! _THIS_ IS WHAT I SHOULD BE PROUD OF?! HOW DEGENERATED, IDIOTICALLY STUPID, DO YOU HAVE TO BE TO EVEN THI-"

And then, Penny burst into tears. And stormed out.

The remaining four people in the house stared at the entrance door, through which Penny had stormed out, in silence.

"Way to go, Patrick," Gumball applauded Patrick sarcastically. "Way to go."

"SHUT UP!" Patrick yelled at him. "Just because you're fucking around with my daughter, doesn't mean you can talk to me like shit, okay?!" Then, he looked at Nicole, then at the door, then back at Gumball. He pointed a finger at Gumball and said: "This is nowhere near over yet!" and stormed out as well.

Gumball felt endlessly embarrassed by what just happened. Endlessly uncomfortable. But it was at least good to know that his mother supported him.

"I'm so proud of you," she said. Gumball looked at the floor and unhappily said:

"Thank you..." and went back to his room.

He knew that the argument between Penny and Patrick, in the Fitzgerald house, would be unpleasant, but he couldn't even imagine how unpleasant it eventually was.

* * *

Penny was sitting on the couch in the Fitzgerald house, crying immensely. Judith, Penny's mother, saw this and asked, already knowing the answer:

"It didn't go well?"

"No, of course not!" Penny said, infuriated.

Judith could tell her daughter was not in a good mood, so she left her alone.

Suddenly, Patrick rushed in the house, without even saying hi, and he had a lot to say to Penny. He was already starting, but Penny asked:

"What do you think you were doing back the-"

"ENOUGH!" Patrick stopped her right there. "I'm not gonna let that little shit be my grandchildren's father!"

"Well, I'm sorry he's not your idea of a perfect son-in-law, but he makes me happy, and-"

"I don't care! You're aborting the child!"

"WHAT?! No, I'm not gonna abort it, what's wrong with y-"

"Don't you say no to me, is that clear? You're going to abort it and that's my final!"

"Or else what?"

"There's no _or else what_. You're aborting the child and that's i-"

"I'M NOT GONNA ABORT MY CHILD!" Penny yelled from the bottom of her lungs.

* * *

Gumball was sitting on the stairs, highly disappointed in the way this all ended, thinking if there could've been another way. It was now late in the evening. Darwin and Anais were on the dining table, but neither was eating the cake that was still on the table, due to still being shocked from the news. Darwin was thinking about how he would become an uncle, but Anais was kinda sad, because she would no longer be able to manipulate her family with her cuteness, for she would no longer be the baby of the family.

"Everything's gonna be alright, honey," Nicole tried to comfort Gumball.

He just sighed. He tried to get some sleep, but to no avail.

Then, somebody knocked on the door. Gumball feared if Patrick had come to finish him, but he decided to confront him.

To his surprise, when he answered the door, standing there was Penny, with a tear in her left eye, and a suitcase in her right hand.

"Penny...?" Gumball asked, a little confused, but he knew what this meant.

"Dad kicked me out," Penny said.

 **That's chapter 3. So, Penny didn't abort her child after all. But then Patrick kicked her out of the house. And now what? Well, wait to see. Chapter 4 coming soon. Until then, of course, leave some more reviews. See you!**


	4. What am I gonna do now?

**Hi guys. Here's chapter 4. Sorry, this one took a little longer.**

 **To Elaine Funches, thank you for the reviews, however I didn't quite catch up on one of them. The divorce and the pregnancy are two separate parts of this story. I'm not trying to use one to cover up the other or anything like that. Maybe I misunderstood something, but whatever.**

 **Well, without any more protraction, enjoy!**

 **Chapter 4: What am I gonna do now?**

Penny stood there, in front of Gumball, with a tearful face, completely hopeless. The first thing Gumball did was hug her. He hugged her as tight as he could, entirely sympathizing with her, and she instantly dropped her head on his shoulder and began crying her heart out.

Nobody in the house knew what to say. How to comfort Penny.

So Gumball went with the usual:

"It will be okay-"

"No, it won't! Don't say that!" Penny interrupted him. Then, she sighed. "Sorry..." She still felt bad about what had happened at her, now former, home.

"Can I stay with you for a couple of days?" Penny asked in near despair, but then:

"Penny..." Nicole approached her, calmly, and put her left hand on Penny's right shoulder. "I'll let you have my bed."

This decision of hers took everybody by surprise. Even herself a little. Gumball wasn't fully convinced that his mother was serious about her decision, so he chuckled. But after Nicole looked at him in a serious manner, he said:

"Wait, you're serious?"

"Of course," she said reassuringly. After Gumball looked at her in a confused manner, she said: "I can sleep on the couch." Gumball shrugged.

"Thank you, Ms. Watterson," Penny told Nicole, and hugged her.

"You're welcome, Penny," Nicole said back, comforting her. "You should get some sleep."

Penny nodded her head, which Nicole then patted. She then led Penny to the master bedroom - which now was basically just Nicole's bedroom.

"Make yourself at home," Nicole said. Penny nodded her head, and she hugged Nicole once more, bursting into tears. Nicole hugged her back.

"I'm sorry it has to be this way," Nicole said.

"It's okay..." Penny said, "It's not your fault..."

"Yeah..." Nicole said insecurely. "And I'm sorry I yelled at your father."

"He deserves it," Penny said, a little more decisively. Nicole was wondering whether or not to tell Penny not to talk about her father like that, but she realized Penny was right. Nicole sighed and left the room.

The moment Penny laid on the master bed, she fell asleep.

* * *

 **Gumball's POV**

I can't believe it.

I still can't believe Patrick would do that!

I was almost about to write "Penny's father", but... no. He may be her biological father, but he's not her father.

But on the plus side, Penny and I now live together, which is AWESOME, and my heart metaphorically exploded of happiness! I can't even explain to you how happy this makes me feel! Everything feels better now that she lives here! You can't even imagine what it's like! Or maybe you can, I don't know.

There's this kinda kinky thing I did. The third or fourth night since she moved in. I know what you're thinking. And you're right. But let's get this story in some order. For the first few nights I was like, maybe I shouldn't bother Penny, she's probably still stressed about everything, I should leave her alone. But that night, I couldn't sleep. Again. And I woke up, and I looked around. Nothing. Darwin and Anais were still sleeping. I thought I could get some more sleep, try to dream about something nice for a change. Like Penny or something. And then I thought, Penny... And then I got that most idiotic idea. Gosh, I'm such an idiot. So, I sneaked out of my room, and paced really slowly, towards the master bedroom. I carefully opened the door. I saw Penny in the bed, of course. But I had to take some time to just stare at her and be absolutely stunned by her beauty. She's so beautiful when she's asleep. So I got in, and I sneaked inside the bed. Right next to her. I tried to do something romantic, but I didn't want to wake her. So I just kissed her in the forehead and held her hand. And I fell asleep. And yeah, that was kinda nice and everything, but then in the morning, apparently Penny woke up before I did, because what woke me up was Penny's scream. She found it a little creepy. I tried to justify myself; I was like, I was trying to be romantic; and she was like, I know you were, but I still need some time for myself. So I figured out I would have to be patient.

And the patience paid off. It's been three weeks now, and we're finally sleeping together. I know you're jealous.

Wanna know the class' reaction when they found out about the pregnancy and everything? The moment we got on the bus - they applauded us! Yeah, I was astounded too. But nowhere near as much as you think I was. Ten times more. Everybody was throwing me in the air and congratulating us, but also saying how messed up that was. But they were still happy for us.

Well, except for Tobias. He gave up on trying to win Penny. Finally.

And dad? Well, on the first week that Darwin, Anais, and I were to visit dad after Penny moved in, we brought her too, to announce the pregnancy. But the moment our knock on the door of Granny Jo-jo's house was answered, dad was standing there, with a giant smile on his face. I sighed. He had already known. Mom probably told him. He was beyond ecstatic to find out he would be a grandpa. He even shook hands with Penny and thanked her. We smelled something from the backyard and dad was like, yeah, I made barbecue for this occasion. Anais was like, I didn't know you could do barbecue; and dad was like, yeah, I didn't know that either. And the barbecue was actually delicious!

There is this other thing about all this, though. I'm aware that the baby will come sooner than it seems. And it will preoccupy everything else that's done around the house. And among other things, we will need a lot of money for the baby, even for its basic needs. So I had to take some kinda drastic measures.

In other words, I got a job.

At that bowling arena. To remind me not to quit it.

And I'm doing quite well there.

But here's the thing... I'm not entirely unable to keep up with both my job and everything that happens at school.

And I can't quit my job, because I need money for the baby.

So... I think I'll have to drop out of school...

* * *

 **Penny's POV**

I have to tell you a little secret.

It was five or six days after my dad kicked me out of the house and I moved to Gumball and his family. They're so much better than my dad. They treat me like I'm one of theirs. I've never felt better in my life.

Well, those five or six days later, when everyone in the house was asleep, I... well, I wasn't. I was up, still thinking about my dad and Gumball and my child... and crying. More than I'd like to admit.

Then I realized something. I realized that I now had an opportunity to do something I've wanted to do ever since I broke out of my shell.

And this might be my only chance.

I got outside the house and looked around the street. No one was there. Thankfully. I breathed deeply in and out.

"This is it..." I said to myself. And I did it.

I used my wings.

I flew up high. Really high.

I was lifting myself in the air until I could see all of Elmore. It was beautiful. It was really magnificent.

That's exactly how I felt. Beautiful. With tiny city lights below me, and the moonlight above me, I was... I felt even more than beautiful...

I felt free.

I cried again. But this time those were tears of joy.

I flew around the city, to make this joyous feeling last for as long as I could. I felt amazing. I felt beyond amazing.

But sadly, nothing good lasts forever. I had to get back home. Yes, the Watterson's house is what I call home now. And I'm glad I do.

I'm so glad I did this.

* * *

 **Nine months later...**

It was Friday. Nicole had just been finished with work at the Rainbow Factory, and was about to pick her children up from school. For her, Penny was now a child of hers, too.

Meanwhile, Darwin and Penny were in Mr. Small's class, while Anais wasn't in the same class due to being one grade above them.

Despite her pregnancy, Penny had not dropped out of school. She managed to keep her life in order, and besides, she wanted to have a proper education. She had found a way to handle it all.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for Gumball. He tried to maintain the balance between his schooling and his job. He really did. But he couldn't; it was just too much for him. And since he found his job more important, because it provided him with money that he was going to use to support his upcoming child, he made a decision that eventually wasn't the least bit easy - he had to drop out of school.

While Mr. Small was in the middle of explaining the benefits of alternative medicine to his students - it happened.

Penny's water broke.

Everybody in the class panicked, and Penny started breathing fast. Only Mr. Small remained calm.

"Ah, the miracle of birth," he said, amazed by the scene. "The greatest moment in one's life-"

"WE GOTTA GO TO THE HOSPITAL!" Darwin screamed. He immediately called Nicole to inform her, and she immediately called Gumball, who was just finishing his shift in the bowling arena. So they all rushed to the hospital together.

Once in the hospital, everybody calmed down. Well, tried to, at least. Gumball was anxiously walking from one end of the hall to the other, and his heart was pounding fast, while Nicole, Darwin, and Anais were sitting in front of one of dozens of doors in that floor of the hospital. And Penny was in labor.

Everybody obviously noticed Gumball's justified nervousness, but Nicole was starting to get annoyed by him constantly walking from here to there, so:

"Gumball!"

"Yeah?" Gumball snapped out.

"Why don't you take a seat?" Nicole said, offering her son a free seat next to her.

"Yeah..." said Gumball, all panting, "That's a good idea..." he came to the seat slowly, and he slowly sat on it. He took deep breaths in and out. He tried to get some sleep, but to no avail.

He was basically sleeping with his eyes open.

Seven hours. That's how long they were there, impatiently sitting in their seats, sweating, just wanting all this to be over as soon as possible.

Suddenly, one of the doctors emerged from the room.

"Mr. Watterson?"

Gumball instantly got up from his seat and went straight into the room, not noticing that the doctor wasn't smiling.

Once inside the room, the first thing Gumball saw was another doctor holding a newborn baby, in a big blanket, in his hands.

It was a girl. A blue fairy. She looked just like her mother, only blue.

Without a shell.

Gumball was endlessly happy to finally see his little girl.

"She looks just like you, Penny," he said, turning to his girlfriend.

And then he was no longer all that happy. Because what he saw there was Penny, in the hospital bed, with her eyes closed, not moving and not making a single sound...

She wasn't even glowing anymore. Her usual yellow body now faded to dark-yellow.

"Penny?" Gumball said, hoping this didn't mean what he thought it meant, but then he saw the screen showed no pulse, and he knew it meant just that. "No, no, no, no, no-"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Watterson," the first doctor said, "We did everything we could..."

Then Gumball looked at him, then the other doctor, and then Penny. He tried to shake her a couple of times, for his last ounce of hope, but Penny didn't move. Then he looked back to the doctors - and he burst into tears. And he cried so much.

"No... nooooooo..." And he just stood there and let tears flow out of his face. And it lasted for a long while.

After all his tears dried out, Gumball sat on one of the chairs in the room, buried his face in his hands, and unhappily said to himself:

"What am I gonna do now?"

 **That's chapter 4. Sorry guys, I had to do it. To advance the plot further. I'm really sorry, I didn't want that to happen either, but it had to. It was the only way the story could continue. Anyway, please leave reviews for this, and see you in chapter 5.**


	5. Loraine

**Hello guys. As you could see, what happened at the end of the last chapter was kinda heartbreaking. But I had to make it that way, for the purpose of advancing the plot further.**

 **I can't help but notice that several users have sent me suggestions for of the plot, and I think they're pretty interesting. However, I have the biggest part of the plot already thought through. Nevertheless, I _might_ consider said suggestions.**

 **To Zemach, I'm sorry. Penny's really dead.**

 **Anyway, here it is. The plot advanced further. Chapter 5. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 5: Loraine**

Almost all of Elmore showed up at Penny's funeral. Because pretty much everyone who knew Gumball, whether it be family and friends or from his shenanigans across the town, also knew Penny. There was an amount of people who only showed up because they didn't want to be impolite. But mostly, the people there really were mourning the loss of a person they knew.

Hardly anyone felt more devastated by Penny's death than Gumball was. Well, except for Penny's mother and little sister; Judith and Polly Fitzgerald. Especially Polly. Gumball could barely imagine it; she wasn't even in grade school, and she already had to see her big sister leave her life forever.

Patrick didn't show up, though.

It was a sunny day.

During the whole funeral, Gumball wasn't paying attention to his mourning relatives and friends. He wasn't even looking at Penny's grave. He had his eyes closed, remembering all the adventures he had gone through with Penny. Breaking out of her shell, trying to propose her when they were only 12, attempting to impress her by having her go around the whole town, etc. It's little to say he was crushed, by the fact that he would never be able to do those kind of things with her again.

He burst into tears. He hugged the first person next to him. It was Polly. She was also crying. And why wouldn't she? Gumball imagined she was in a lot more pain than he was. Penny was her sister, after all, and now, she was at her funeral.

Soon, all of the Wattersons and the Fitzgeralds joined the hug. They all shared the same sadness. It was one big sadness. Penny may not have left as big an impact on some of them as she did on Gumball, but she was part of all of their lives. They were no less sad about her death than Gumball was.

After the funeral, Gumball stayed at the graveyard. His family understood that he was still in deep thoughts about this and had to process it all, and they didn't want to bother him. So they left him alone.

Gumball was sitting on the ground, staring at Penny's gravestone, lost in the thoughts about her. Every now and then, he would burst into tears. He missed her. He missed her so much. He couldn't find a way to explain to himself why it had ended up like this. He knew why, but he spent time wondering if it could have happened some other way.

Then, he spoke.

"I'm sorry, Penny..." he said, staring at the graveyard, not entirely sure what he was sorry for. Everything a little, actually. "I'm sorry for..." He tried to construct a sentence that would make some sense, but he didn't know how to begin. He wasn't even entirely sure how it went wrong. And again, he really did know, but it was so inexplicably unbearable that he couldn't cope with it.

So he burst into tears once again. This time the hardest. Only now did it actually hit him that Penny was gone. That he would never ever see her again. It hurt him. It physically hurt him. So he collapsed on the ground and cried his heart out.

Then, he fell asleep.

He woke up an hour later. It was beginning to get dark. So he had to get home. Just because he was mourning, didn't mean he wouldn't have to show up to work the next day. Besides, his job made him money for what became a priority for him right now - providing a good life for his newborn daughter.

Loraine Watterson-Fitzgerald. That's the name Gumball chose. He didn't spend a lot of time picking one. He thought Penny would like it.

During the funeral, Loraine was babysit by Granny Jo-jo, so Gumball first went there, to pick her up. Richard offered him a ride back to Nicole's house, which Gumball accepted, but before that, Richard gave him a big hug. It was only then that Gumball felt a little easier. A _little._

When he came home, with Loraine in his hands, Nicole immediately stopped cooking and took Loraine in her hands, because she knew her son's obligations regarding his job, she knew he had to get some sleep, and most importantly, she knew he needed some time alone.

Gumball immediately went to sleep.

* * *

The next day, it was just another day in Elmore. Everyone was back to their usual daily routine. So was Gumball. He had a job of cleaning bowling balls and the whole place and things like that. It wasn't a very difficult job. He didn't complain, as long as it made him money. His boss knew what Gumball had recently gone through, so he chose to go easy on him for a while.

Loraine was at home, babysit by Nicole. She had to take a few days off, to take care of her granddaughter, until the family could put everything in order, because of Gumball's job and Loraine. It wouldn't be easy, but somehow they had to get through it. Luckily, Nicole has plenty of experience in parenting, so Loraine should be no difficulty.

Gumball was doing his regular routine, preparing all the things necessary for the hundreds of people who would show up, most of which didn't know the first thing about bowling. As time passed, Gumball saw all kinds of talent at bowling that day; some of the teams that showed up were extraordinary, some were terrible, and there were of course all those teams that were something in between. Gumball was in charge of kind of surveying everything, making sure nothing goes wrong for the players.

And as ironic as it could get, it went wrong for him.

In the middle of his day, Gumball was just doing his job. The two teams that were competing each other were both actually quite good. The better one of them, in fact, beat the record of the bowling arena.

And suddenly, a shout was heard from just outside the bowling arena.

"YOU!"

Everyone else turned around in confusion, wondering who it could've been said towards. But Gumball was frightened, because he knew it was for him, from the seriousness of the voice.

The figure that shouted came closer, and - you guessed it - it was Patrick. Full of rage, full of anger, ready to destroy anything he even thought about. And he looked at Gumball.

Gumball couldn't even move.

"YOU PIECE OF SHIT! YOU KILLED MY DAUGHTER!" Patrick yelled at him. Gumball could barely even take a step back, before Patrick slammed his fist against Gumball's face, so hard that it sent Gumball to fall backwards, hitting a wall. Everybody in the bowling arena stood there in utter shock, for they were just witnessing a one-sided fight that was happening for what they thought was no reason. Nobody even dared approach Patrick, let alone try to stop him from beating an innocent man. And this, sadly, did so much good for Patrick.

After Gumball was thrown to the wall, his heart was beating fast, he was breathing heavily. He tried to say something to Patrick, he tried to shout _please_ , but he was just too scared to do that. Or to even stand up.

And this also, sadly, did good for Patrick, because at the peak of his rage, he took the heaviest bowling ball out there, and threw it on Gumball's right ankle.

The only thing that could be heard next was:

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

 _Unbearable_ doesn't begin to cover the pain that Gumball was in. And since his body wasn't able to take all those hits and beatings - he passed out.

* * *

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he did was try to catch some air, but he saw he had an oxygen mask on his face.

He realized he was in a hospital bed.

His boss was standing right next to him.

"Oh, you're alive," the boss said. "I was almost worried for a second that you would die."

Gumball just uttered: "Yeah..." and sighed. He looked at the screen that showed his heartbeat, just to make sure he was still alive. He was.

"That idiot was arrested," the boss said. Gumball felt a little relieved by that.

But then, he remembered something. He hadn't seen Loraine since he left the house that morning. In fact, he had barely even seen her at all since she came to this world. Which made him feel awful again.

Suddenly, the door swung open.

"Where's my son?!" It was Nicole. She rushed to the hospital as soon as she heard what happened. She saw her son in the hospital bed, all beaten up. She had no other choice but to feel sorry him.

"There you are, my beautiful little angel," Nicole said to her son, patting him on the head. "I'm gonna kill that bastard," she said angrily.

"Not literally, I hope," Gumball's boss gulped. Nicole looked at him roughly. He panicked a little. "Ms. Watterson...?"

Nicole sighed. "No. Of course not literally," she said. Then she turned back to her son. "We hope you'll get better soon. Loraine is not letting us sleep."

"Yeah, I bet she-" Gumball began, but then he panicked. "Wait, where is she?!"

"Oh, I left Darwin and Anais in charge of her," Nicole said happily.

"Mom..." Gumball said suspiciously. "Are you sure that was a good idea?"

"Well, no," Nicole said, "but it wasn't exactly like I had time to make a choice. I had to rush here, honey."

"Yeah... thank you," Gumball said. Nicole then kissed him in the forehead.

"I love you, honey," she said.

"I love you too, mom," Gumball said back. "I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise."

"Please, be," Nicole said desperately. "The house is a complete mess right now."

Gumball laughed. Nicole then did, too.

"Sorry, I have to go back to work," she said softly. "See you later."

"Bye," Gumball said. And Nicole went out.

There was a long period of silence afterwards.

"So..." Gumball's boss then said, "You're still coming to work tomorrow, right?"

Gumball then went back to sleep.

 **This concludes chapter 5. Again, I will consider some of the ideas you've sent me. Until chapter 6, leave reviews and see you!**


	6. Move on

**Hi, guys. So, I've finished chapter 6. I know that chapter 5 may not have been as impressive as the first four, but I had to make that transition in the plot.**

 **To a guest that mentioned the remote, I feel like an idiot for not having thought about that. However, I feel like that's kind of "cheating", in lack of a better term.**

 **To Spineshocker62645, I'm about to do something like that in this very chapter. Not exactly** ** _that_** **, but something similar.**

 **To PennyIsAHero, thank you.**

 **Here's chapter 6. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 6: Move on**

It wouldn't be until a month later that Gumball went out of the hospital. Nicole drove him back home, just to make sure he wouldn't injure himself on the way home.

When they came home, what Gumball expected, from what his mother had told him, was kind of a mess he and Darwin used to make all the time. But he was dead wrong. The mess he came across exceeded all of his expectations. Hardly anything was left intact, and the walls were practically covered with food, among millions of other stuff.

In the middle of the living room, Darwin was standing, frightened, also covered in food.

"I tried, Ms. Mom," Darwin said, panicking, "I really did, but she's-"

"I know you did, honey," Nicole sighed. Gumball was still astounded by the look of the house.

"There you are, Gumball," Anais said, coming downstairs, with a serious expression on her face. "This is a giant problem! Loraine doesn't understand basic principles of differential geometry; she's impossible to communicate with! I try to explain her Gauss' curvature, and all she says is goo-goo, gah-gah, and then she cries and rampages the house."

"I DON'T THINK HER INABILITY TO UNDERSTAND MATHS IS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM RIGHT NOW!", Darwin yelled to Anais, frantically.

Frustrated by both statements, Gumball rushed upstairs, to see how his daughter was doing. The blue fairy was in her crib, crying heavily, waving her arms and legs around.

"No, no, no, sssshhhh, it's okay, daddy's here..." the moment he picked her up, Loraine stopped crying and smiled. And that smile on her face made Gumball feel _a lot_ easier.

Loraine playfully laughed. This really filled Gumball's heart, knowing his daughter was happy.

"You're so cute and beautiful..." Gumball whispered to her, "Your mother would be so proud of you..."

And then he remembered Penny. She was exactly the same; sweet, innocent, lovable. There was nothing wrong about her. She made him endlessly happy. And now, he had to live without her. He sighed.

Loraine started to cry again.

"No, no, it's okay..." Gumball tried comforting her again. "What's wrong, my pumpkin honey? You hungry? Come on, let's get you something to eat..."

So he went downstairs, still holding Loraine in his hands.

"Hey guys, could you please go get something for Loraine to eat?" Gumball asked everyone in the house.

"There's plenty of food on the walls," Darwin said cynically, pointing at the walls.

"I meant from the store," Gumball said.

"So she can splatter that too?" Anais said. Gumball sighed. Loraine cried even harder.

"Okay, okay, just please make her stop," Darwin complained, annoyed by Loraine's crying. So he, Anais, and Nicole drove off to Elmore mall.

Gumball and Loraine remained alone in the house.

"I know what we can do until the food comes," Gumball said to Loraine.

"Goo-goo, gah-gah," Loraine replied.

"Exactly," Gumball said. Then, he picked up the remote and turned on the TV. "It should be about now..." Gumball rapidly switched channels until he found it. Daisy the donkey.

Loraine instantly smiled and clapped excitedly.

"Yes, honey..." Gumball said to her. "That's aunt Anais' favorite show..."

They watched it until they fell asleep on the couch.

When Darwin, Anais, and Nicole came back with food, and saw the two asleep, they quickly ate the food, so that Loraine wouldn't splatter it on the walls.

* * *

Two months later, Gumball was back in the rhythm he was in when he first got his job in the bowling arena. He tried his best not to let his job interfere with his personal life.

He still hadn't got over Penny's death, but he got used to living without her.

A stronger feeling inside him around that time, though, was the frustration that Patrick had been found innocent of what he had done to him. But he had to let that one slide, too.

And just when he thought he wouldn't let his private life mess with his job, a certain group of people came inside for a round of bowling.

His class. His former class, that is. Most of it, that is.

That's when he realized he was completely out of touch with almost everything that's been happening in Elmore ever since Penny got pregnant. What he also realized was that all of his class had probably moved on with their lives - something he wasn't even close to beginning doing.

He was almost getting lost in his thoughts, when:

"DUDE!" It was Tobias. He stretched out his fist in an attempt of fist-greeting. "I haven't seen you since, like, forever! Sorry about Penny, though; we all miss her."

"It's okay, I'm already over it," Gumball lied. He then accepted the fist-greeting.

"So..." Tobias began, "You bowl a lot?"

"Actually, I'm not allowed to, exactly because I work here," Gumball explained.

"Come on, dude, try just one," Tobias insisted. "It's not like your boss or anyone will notice."

"I'm literally standing right behind you," Gumball's boss said, standing right behind Tobias.

"Come on, Toby, don't bother Gumball," Masami said, taking Tobias' hand. "Can't you see he's in pain?" Then she and Tobias looked at each other seductively, and started making out. Apparently, Tobias and Masami are dating now.

"Can't you wait till we get home?" Masami asked passionately. Then they stopped making out. "Besides, it's your turn."

"Already?" Tobias panicked and rushed back to the bowling pit.

Gumball went to check out how good his former classmates were at bowling.

They were terrible.

They were absolutely terrible.

Only Bobert was doing remotely good. The rest, not at all.

Gumball couldn't look at this. But he had to, because that's what he got paid for.

In time, along came Carrie's turn. Her swing almost seemed hopeful for half a moment. But, as you can guess, no cone was hit.

"Wow," Tobias said to Carrie, "I guess you got..."

"Don't even think about it..." Carrie threatened him.

"I'm already thinking about it," Tobias smirked, "...CARRIED away."

Carrie possessed Tobias' body and punched him in the face. Masami then tried to strike Carrie with lightning, but Carrie is a ghost, so it didn't work. She smirked, and Masami got furious. So they got into a fight. Well, as much of a fight as it could've been, due to their physical abilities and disabilities.

"Hey, hey, hey, girls!" Alan interrupted. "We didn't come here to fight. We came here for a greater cause."

"That's right! Gumball!" Teri remembered.

"Me?" Gumball asked, confused.

"You know anyone else named Gumball?" Tobias asked sarcastically.

"Oh, shut up, Tobias," Carrie silenced him. Then, she turned to the blue cat. "Gumball, we came here to tell you what idiots your parents are."

Gumball was even more confused, but he now understood why the whole class were such terrible bowlers.

"Ummm... what?" he said in confusion.

"While you're mourning Penny's death," Tobias explained, "your parents are smooching behind your back."

"My parents are divorced," Gumball told him.

"Not according to what we just saw at Joyful Burger," Tobias said.

That caught Gumball by surprise.

"What the what?!" He looked at everyone in the bowling arena, and tried saying something, but he didn't know what to say. Then, he came up with: "Oh, look at my wrist; my shift is almost over."

"No, it's not," Gumball's boss told him. But Gumball was already on his way out. "Hey, I'll take that away from your salary."

But Gumball was already gone.

"He didn't even slow down," his boss muttered.

* * *

Nicole and Richard _were_ legally divorced, but something happened that very evening at Joyful Burger.

They bumped into each other. For Richard, that was his everyday routine, and as for Nicole, she was getting it for when Gumball came home.

So they both sat down at a table and started conversing, for they hadn't seen each other in a while. And they had so much to talk about; Richard's barbecuing abilities, Nicole's stress over taking care of Loraine, etc.

Meanwhile, Richard ate both his food and the food Nicole had intended to bring for Gumball. She stared in disbelief at first, but she realized she couldn't do anything about it because she and Richard are divorced. Besides, she remembered, there was food at home. So she laughed.

The eating bit and the laughing bit was what the class saw from the parking lot of Joyful Burger, through the window. They had already been on their way to the bowling arena, so they thought they should tell Gumball.

Later on, Richard and Nicole saw it was late, so they had to go back to their homes. But before that, Richard asked Nicole something.

"Nicole..."

"Yes?"

"Would you..." Richard took a deep breath in and out. "Would you like it if we got back together?"

Nicole's happy facial expression turned into that of surprise. Then, she started to feel kinda sorry for Richard.

"I would love that..." she honestly said, "but... I can't. I just can't. It wouldn't work. I'm sorry."

This made Richard feel sad. Still, in the end, the two hugged each other, after which they went separate ways.

The hugging bit was all that Gumball saw when he came to Joyful Burger, hiding behind the bushes. He stopped for a second, thought about everything that had happened in the last year and a half, and then he went home.

* * *

Gumball was on his way home, thinking about what he had just seen at Joyful Burger, not aware that it wasn't exactly the way he saw it.

"Great..." he thought peevishly, "My parents are back together... and I'm all alone... perfect... just fucking perfect..."

The closer he got to home, the more he tried to steer his thoughts to just about anything else, but he only ended up thinking more and more about it.

As he was getting near the house, he saw somebody approach its entrance door. It was, of course, Patrick. He had come to apologize. His knock on the door was answered by Nicole. But when she saw who it was:

"What are you doing here?" she asked angrily.

"I came to apologize," Patrick said. And Nicole was inexplicably infuriated by this.

"I'm sorry, what?!" she said. Patrick tried to repeat, but she immediately continued: "After what you did to my son?! After you nearly _killed_ him?! You think an apology will fix everything?!" This made Patrick feel insecure. He tried to explain, but Nicole threatened: "No! Now listen to me very carefully! If you ever come close to my son or anybody from my family ever again, you'll end up like your daughter! Is that clear?!"

This sent shivers down Patrick's spine. He just stared at Nicole for two seconds - and then he left.

That's when Gumball felt it. What he was hoping, this whole time, that he would be able to avoid. That everything that could've gone wrong, in the past year and a half, went wrong. There was a second of silence - and then Gumball burst into tears, in the middle of the street. He just couldn't believe this was happening. He was heartbroken. He was deeply heartbroken. He just laid on the sidewalk and let tears flow through his face. This was exactly what he was trying to avoid. And now, that exactly was happening.

"Why..." he repeatedly told himself. "Why... just fucking why...?"

He couldn't bear it. There was nothing he could do about anything.

Then, he calmed down. He started thinking about Penny. It was the only positive thought inside him right now.

And that was enough for him to remember something. Something he should've thought of long ago.

"Of course! How didn't I think of that before?"

So he got up and ran to the graveyard.

Once in the graveyard, it was around midnight, so no one else was around. He found Penny's gravestone, and sat on the ground in front of it.

He remembered something he had learned from Carrie. How to summon a ghost. Call their name five times.

So he did just that, hoping it would work.

"Penny, Penny, Penny, Penny, Penny."

And it did. The ghost of Penny showed up before Gumball's very eyes. It was the happiest Gumball had been in a long while.

"Penny..." Gumball said, with tears of joy in his eyes.

"Gumball!" Penny said excitedly, rushing towards Gumball and hugging him tightly. "I can't believe it. You're here! Tell me about everything!"

Gumball didn't know where to start. He took Penny's hands, and took a deep breath in and out.

"I miss you..." he said.

"I miss you too," she said back, comforting him. She tried to cheer him up by asking: "How's our little girl?" Gumball smiled.

"She's just like you," he said. Penny blushed.

"What did you name her?" she asked.

"Loraine," Gumball said.

"That's a nice name," Penny said. Then, she asked him: "And how are you doing?" Gumball sighed.

"Not well..." he said, reluctantly. Penny was one of the few people Gumball could be completely honest with. And she didn't have to ask him why he wasn't doing well. She knew it was because everything had gone downhill ever since she died.

"Gumball..." she said, still holding hands with him. Gumball looked her in the eyes. "You have to move on," she said. Gumball sighed again.

"I can't," Gumball said. "I just... can't..."

"It's okay," Penny said reassuringly. "I know you'll find a way."

They both smiled.

"Penny..." Gumball said.

"Yeah?" Penny said back.

"If you had... lived..." Gumball began, "would you... marry me?"

"Of course!" Penny said confidently. Gumball felt relieved.

"Okay," he said, "just wanted to be sure." They both laughed lightly. "Penny..." he said again.

"Yeah?" she also said again. There was a second of silence.

"I love you," he said. He had told her that hundreds of times before this one, but this time, he meant it wholeheartedly. Penny felt that and she smiled.

"I love you too, Gumball," she said back. They kissed each other in the lips.

They stared at each other afterwards, with smiles on their faces.

"Don't worry," Penny said in comfort, "we'll see each other again."

And then she disappeared.

Gumball sighed and went back home.

 **There goes chapter 6. So, as you can see, I used some of your suggestions. I didn't exactly follow them, but I found a way to incorporate them into the story. Thanks for the suggestions, again! Until chapter 7, leave reviews and see you!**


	7. A reason to be happy

**Hello, everyone! Well, we've reached the end! Of the "official" version, that is.**

 **To PennyIsAHero, sorry, you're trying too hard this time.**

 **To TawogFanficReader, you're my man!**

 **Anyway, here's the final chapter (the official one). Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 7: A reason to be happy**

It was the day before Loraine's fourth birthday. Gumball's shift at the bowling arena for that day had already ended, and he was now at the Elmore mall, trying to find the perfect present for his daughter's birthday.

He still thought about Penny every day, but he had finally found a way to live without her.

He moved on.

At the moment, he was staring through the shop window, trying to find a gift that would leave Loraine thrilled, or at least make Anais jealous of her.

That's when he got the perfect idea. He remembered that Daisy the donkey, Anais' favorite show, was also Loraine's favorite show, and Anais only had one Daisy doll, so he thought about buying, like, a whole box of Daisy dolls.

So he did just that.

Afterwards, he was walking around the store, with a box of Daisy the donkey dolls in his cart, not yet having paid for them. In the back of his mind, he was still unsure just how good of a prank this would be.

Then his cellphone rang.

"Halo?"

"DUDE, YOU GOTTA COME HOME QUICKLY!" It was Darwin, panicking a lot. "IT'S LORAINE!"

"What about her?"

"I CAN'T TALK ABOUT THAT ON THE PHONE, YOU GOTTA SEE IT FOR YOURSELF! COME HOME RIGHT NOW!"

Then Gumball looked at his cart, the box, and decided it was just good enough of a prank.

"No problem," he smirked.

Naturally, Loraine had already learned to walk and to talk. But it was something else that she also learned, that surprised Gumball when he came home.

The house was in a total mess, again. But by now, he had already gotten used to it.

"Dude..." Darwin panicked, gulped, and pointed at the backyard door. "You're not gonna believe this..."

Gumball sighed, rolled his eyes, and went to the backyard. And what he saw there caught him by giant surprise. Unnaturally, Nicole and Anais were standing there, barely even moving, frightened. But that's not what surprised Gumball.

What surprised him was that Loraine was flying!

His beautiful little girl was waving her wings, high off the ground, feeling endlessly happy.

Gumball shed tears of joy.

"Daddy!" Loraine yelled, excited to see her dad. She flew towards him, and the two hugged each other. "What did you get me?"

"Surprise," Gumball whispered.

"What kind of surprise?" Loraine insisted, childishly.

"If I tell you, it's not gonna be a surprise, don't you think?" Gumball said. Then, they both went back inside the house.

Nicole and Anais looked at each other, still frightened.

"We survived!" they both shouted, high-fived each other, and also went inside the house.

* * *

The next day, everybody gathered around the dining table, for the gift that Gumball had prepared for his daughter. Loraine was as excited as anyone could ever get.

"Ready?" Gumball asked her, smiling.

"Yes!" Loraine said excitedly. Then, she opened the box. When she saw all the Daisy dolls inside, she was way beyond thrilled. She was rapturous.

"Yaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy!" she said in utter happiness and hugged her dad. "You're the best dad ever!"

"I know, thank you," Gumball said.

Anais stared in complete and utter disbelief.

"You did not do that," she said to him. "You did not do that!"

"Yeah, I did, just yesterday," Gumball quickly responded. Anais just frowned and held her Daisy doll tighter.

As you can assume, all Loraine did all day was play with her Daisy dolls. And she wasn't getting any tired at all until late at night. And of course, just like that, she fell asleep in an instant.

* * *

A few days later, in the evening, everyone in the house was getting ready to sleep. So was Gumball. He was still sleeping in the master bedroom, as Nicole chose to keep sleeping on the couch.

At one moment, before going to sleep, Loraine came to Gumball.

"Daddy?" she said.

"Loraine, honey..." Gumball said softly, "shouldn't you be in bed?"

"Can I ask you something?" the little blue fairy said. Gumball noticed something she wasn't feeling alright.

"Yeah...?" he said, slightly worried.

"Well, today in kindergarten..." Loraine began, "...we all had to say something about our moms..."

This was already when Gumball's heart broke. Because he knew exactly where this was going.

"And..." Loraine continued, "...everyone was saying how great their moms are, and fighting whose mom is the best... and I didn't say anything... because I don't have a mom..." she looked at the floor.

Gumball sat on the edge of the bed, not knowing what to say.

"Daddy..." Loraine said, with sadness on her face, "What happened to my mom?"

Gumball didn't know how to tell her. He didn't know how to begin. How to say it in a way that she would understand.

"She..." Gumball began, but it was too hard for him to say it. But he had to say it. "She died." Long silence came afterwards. "I'm so sorry, honey... I..."

But then, Loraine hugged him. As tight as possible. And Gumball hugged her back. They both let out a tear.

"It's okay, daddy..." Loraine said. Gumball felt easier, seeing that his daughter was comforting him. Even though she was just a child, Loraine knew her dad missed her mom. "I'm here with you..." she said. Gumball smiled.

"Thank you..." he said. Then, Loraine thought of something.

"Tell me about her," she said, with a smile on her face. Gumball was genuinely surprised. He didn't know where to begin talking about Penny. He thought about her deeply before he started talking.

"Well..." he began, "...she was wonderful and... sweet and... caring and... lovely... She was just so lovely... I couldn't find anything wrong about her... And she was beautiful... she was so amazingly beautiful... You remind me so much of her, you know..."

Loraine smiled. Then:

"Do you miss her?" she asked him. Gumball sighed.

"Yes," he said, sadly.

There was another long silence.

"Do you think she would be proud of me?" she asked, with another smile on her cute face. Gumball looked at her.

"Yes," he said, without having any second thoughts. "Yes, she would be endlessly proud of you."

Loraine smiled, and hugged her dad again.

"I love you, daddy," she said.

"I love you too, my pumpkin honey," Gumball said back, kissing her in the forehead. "Come on, you should go to sleep now."

Loraine quickly got out of the hug and headed outside the master bedroom.

"Goodnight," she said.

"'Night, honey," Gumball said, closing the door.

Before going to sleep, he did one other thing that was quite of importance to him at the moment. He looked at a picture that was on his night stand. The picture was of Penny of him together. He then, once again, remembered all the adventures he had gone through with Penny. All the bad times, but much more importantly, all the good times, too. He thought about how she made him truly happy. It made him sad that he would never be able to feel that kind of happiness again. Luckily for him, he found a different kind of happiness, in Loraine. The very fact that he still had a reason to be happy was what motivated him to move on. Still, though, it was now his turn to be a semi-responsible parent.

And it was now Loraine's turn to become known throughout all of Elmore, for being mischievous.

Gumball sighed, placed a kiss on the picture, and peacefully went to sleep.

THE END

 **So, this is the _official_ ending to this fanfic. However, soon, I will also be uploading an alternate ending, the version where - you guessed it - Penny lives. Until then, leave reviews and see you!**


	8. Alternate ending

**Hello, guys. Sorry for the delay, I was out of out of town for a few days.**

 **To Call Me writefag, no. Just no.**

 **To PennyIsAHero, no problem, man (woman? I don't know...).**

 **To Spineshocker62645, thank you.**

 **So, here is the long desired alternate ending, in the version where Penny survives giving birth. Starting from the end of chapter 4, and then onwards. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Nine months later...**

It was Friday. Nicole had just been finished with work at the Rainbow Factory, and was about to pick her children up from school. For her, Penny was now a child of hers, too.

Meanwhile, Darwin and Penny were in Mr. Small's class, while Anais wasn't in the same class due to being one grade above them.

Despite her pregnancy, Penny had not dropped out of school. She managed to keep her life in order, and besides, she wanted to have a proper education. She had found a way to handle it all.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for Gumball. He tried to maintain the balance between his schooling and his job. He really did. But he couldn't; it was just too much for him. And since he found his job more important, because it provided him with money that he was going to use to support his upcoming child, he made a decision that eventually wasn't the least bit easy - he had to drop out of school.

While Mr. Small was in the middle of explaining the benefits of alternative medicine to his students - it happened.

Penny's water broke.

Everybody in the class panicked, and Penny started breathing fast. Only Mr. Small remained calm.

"Ah, the miracle of birth," he said, amazed by the scene. "The greatest moment in one's life-"

"WE GOTTA GO TO THE HOSPITAL!" Darwin screamed. He immediately called Nicole to inform her, and she immediately called Gumball, who was just finishing his shift in the bowling arena. So they all rushed to the hospital together.

Once in the hospital, everybody calmed down. Well, tried to, at least. Gumball was anxiously walking from one end of the hall to the other, and his heart was pounding fast, while Nicole, Darwin, and Anais were sitting in front of one of dozens of doors in that floor of the hospital. And Penny was in labor.

Everybody obviously noticed Gumball's justified nervousness, but Nicole was starting to get annoyed by him constantly walking from here to there, so:

"Gumball!"

"Yeah?" Gumball snapped out.

"Why don't you take a seat?" Nicole said, offering her son a free seat next to her.

"Yeah..." said Gumball, all panting, "That's a good idea..." he came to the seat slowly, and he slowly sat on it. He took deep breaths in and out. He tried to get some sleep, but to no avail.

He was basically sleeping with his eyes open.

Seven hours. That's how long they were there, impatiently sitting in their seats, sweating, just wanting all this to be over as soon as possible.

Suddenly, one of the doctors emerged from the room.

"Mr. Watterson?"

Gumball instantly got up from his seat and went straight into the room, not even paying attention to the doctor.

Once inside the room, the first thing Gumball saw was Penny in the hospital bed, with tiredness in her eyes and a smile on her face, holding a newborn baby, in a big blanket, in her hands.

It was a girl. A blue fairy. She looked just like her mother, only blue.

And without a shell.

Gumball was endlessly happy to finally see his little girl.

"She looks just like you, Penny," he said, turning to his girlfriend.

"I know," Penny said, almost about to cry.

"Can I... hold it?" Gumball said carefully. Penny nodded. She carefully handed the cute little girl to her boyfriend.

When Gumball took the little girl in his hands, it's not enough to say he felt happy. He felt a lot more than that. He felt utterly thrilled and joyous, but also beautifully sad.

He was a father. He felt it in his heart.

He cried tears of joy.

"I know, Gumball," Penny said, knowing what Gumball felt without saying a word. "Me too-"

"This is the best moment of my life!" Gumball almost screamed through tears.

The little girl then smiled in such a cute smile, and tried to touch all over Gumball's face. Gumball let her. And he was glad he did, because her hands were so soft and fluffy. It made him feel like he was in he tickled her in the cheek and she smiled even cuter.

"Have you thought about a name?" Penny asked Gumball. He had not thought about that until that moment, so he took the liberty of doing it then. He looked at his beautiful little girl once more. She smiled, even happier than moments ago.

"How about Loraine?" Gumball suggested.

"That's a wonderful name," Penny said, smiling. Gumball then kissed Loraine in the forehead and handed her back to Penny, who did the same. She now also let out a tear of joy.

"Gumball..." she spoke to her boyfriend.

"Yes...?" Gumball responded.

"I'm a mother..." she barely said through tears. "It feels so beautiful to say it..."

"I know..." Gumball said and hugged his girlfriend happily. Now, he also knew that both Penny and Loraine needed rest before they could do anything else, so he added: "I hope you two come home soon."

"We will deliver the baby in a week," one of the doctors added to the subject.

"Actually," Gumball interrupted, "we would like her to keep her liver."

"They're not gonna take away her liver, Gumball," Penny said, but she turned to the doctors, "Right?" just to be sure.

"No," the doctor said, "we don't do that anymore."

Gumball and Penny both sighed in relief. Then, they looked each other in the eyes.

"I'll let you rest," Gumball told her, kissing her in the lips. "Love you."

"Love you too," Penny said back. They waved each other until Gumball finally went out of the room. Then, Penny went to sleep and snoring.

* * *

After a week, Nicole was driving the newborn girl and her mother back home from the hospital. Penny was in the backseat, holding her daughter in her arms, with an honest smile on her face.

"You know, this feels so wonderful," Penny said to Nicole.

"I know," Nicole said at the rear view mirror, remembering how she once also went through all the same. She felt a little kinda sad that her time to do this had passed. But maybe it was for the best. Because life goes on.

"Goo-goo, gah-gah," Loraine muttered. Penny turned to her.

"Yes, sweetie, that's your grandma."

And Nicole instantly stopped the car, in the middle of the street, and looked at Penny in disbelief.

"What do you mean, I'm a grandma at age 42?!" Nicole said nervously.

"Well..." Penny began, not knowing how to answer, "...you are... That's just how it is..."

Nicole looked back in the front of herself, still in disbelief, and sighed. She stared through her side window for a couple of seconds, but several cars behind her were rapidly honking, so she had to drive on.

* * *

 **Gumball's POV**

Loraine and Penny are finally home!

I don't understand how this all happened so fast... No, wait, yes, I do, but you get the point.

I guess I just have to turn to the next page in my life.

We already took our first picture together. Loraine, Penny and I. It's so beautiful! And finally a picture that I look decent on!

Loraine is so cute. She's almost always smiling. She seems so happy. And it makes me happy that someone so happy is a part of my life. And it's my daughter. I still can't believe I have a daughter...

And Penny... she's even more beautiful than she used to be. Both physically and metaphorically. I don't know how she accomplished that, but... I don't care. As long as somebody so lovely is beside me, I really don't care.

I took the first chance I got. The first night they came home, Loraine and I were watching Daisy the donkey, and truth be told, I fell asleep first, but then I woke up, Loraine was totally sleeping in my arms. So I brought her upstairs to put her in her crib. Penny was watching all this and she was like, that's so cute. And I was still in endless joy from the fact that I actually have a child, so when I closed the door, I hugged Penny. And I mean, I hugged her really tight. I was, like, drowning in my tears of joy, and I just wanted Penny to know it. For real. She makes me happy, and Loraine makes me happy, and... this is just so beautiful.

And of course, we had sex afterwards.

There's something else that happened the other day, though. Something actually serious.

Patrick came to apologize. For what he told Penny and me.

The moment I saw him on the door, I immediately closed it, but he was like, no, please, let me in; and I was like, absolutely no way after what you did. But Penny saw him, and she was like, let him in. And she totally introduced him to Loraine. And he tried to tickle her too. But then Penny was like, dad, we need to talk. And they went outside so we couldn't hear them. Of course, mom, Darwin, Anais, and I peeked through the window. And Loraine too.

Patrick asked her if she would like to come back home to him and their family. And Penny actually put some actual thought to all that. And you could really see that Patrick was hoping. But in the end, Penny chose to stay here. And now, I know I should be happy that she stayed with me, and I know that Patrick was acting like kind of an ass lately, but something just didn't feel right. Like, come on, it's her dad after all.

But Patrick said it's okay. And they hugged, and they cried. But those weren't tears of joy. Those were tears of actual sadness. Even I felt bad about this. But Patrick said he wants his daughter to be happy, and if living with me does the thing, then so be it.

Last night, she was sleeping so peacefully. She looks like an angel when she's asleep. I didn't want to wake her up. But I did want to tell her how much I love her. So I waited till morning, until she woke up, to tell her that. She replied the same. I could see it in her eyes that she really meant it. That filled my heart.

I'm glad she's happy. And Loraine too.

* * *

 **Loraine's POV**

I think my mommy and daddy are weirdos. Because every time they pick me up from kindergarten, they have really big smiles on their faces, and they keep those smiles all the way to home, and I think that's kinda creepy.

Granny Nicole is much nicer. She always cooks food for me.

Uncle Darwin is panicking all the time. He is still trying to feed me with the food granny Nicole made, like I can't do it on my own. I'm not a baby anymore, I'm four years old, I know how to eat!

I think aunt Anais is jealous. Daisy the donkey is a great show, but she also loves it, and I watch it all the time, so she never gets a chance to, and I think that's why she's jealous. He, he...

Sometimes we visit grandpa Richard. He's funny. But he always eats all the food around him. But he's still funny.

I know my mommy and daddy are not trying to be creepy, they just really love me, and I love them, and I think that's wonderful.

* * *

It was a little over four years after Loraine was brought to this world. It was just an average day in Elmore - depending on what you consider as average.

Gumball Watterson, the now 20-year-old blue cat, was coming home from his job at the bowling arena. He was doing quite well at it. Once he came home, he instantly fell asleep on the couch, only to be woken moments later, by a weird, but pleasant, sound of buzzing. He heard that it was coming from the backyard. So he came there. Once he did, he was glad he did.

Penny was teaching Loraine how to fly.

And she was very successful in it.

The moment Gumball saw this, his eye pupils increased four times in size, and drool came out of his mouth. It was the most ecstatic thing he had ever seen in his entire life.

"Oh, hi, Gumball," Penny said the moment she noticed him, landing herself on the ground.

"Daddy!" Loraine yelled excitedly and flew towards her father, hugging him. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, sweetie," Gumball said back. Right afterwards, Penny kissed him in the lips, and the three got together in one big hug.

Later that evening, as everyone in the house was going to sleep, Gumball thought about doing something he thought he should have done a while ago. Something he had done a few times prior to this, but this time, he was serious about it.

Right before Penny turned her night lamp off, Gumball spoke to her.

"Penny?"

"Yeah?" she responded calmly.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Of course," she said, still calm.

That's when Gumball felt a little afraid, even though he had no real reason to. He took a deep breath in and out, took her right hand, kissed it, and asked her:

"Will you marry me?"

This took Penny by a big surprise, but then she made an honest smile on her face.

"Yes. Of course!" she said, excitedly. Gumball was inexplicably thrilled to hear this. To celebrate this, they made love, passionately.

Around a year later, the big day came.

Gumball was in the kitchen, already wearing his suit, feeling nervous like never before in his life. He and Penny had decided to get married in the backyard of the Watterson household, to not complicate things unnecessarily.

Penny, on the other hand, was in the master bedroom, getting the last details done for her wedding dress. She tried her best to hold back her tears of joy. Loraine was wearing a dress made for her; she would be the one carrying the rings.

All of the Wattersons and the Fitzgeralds were invited.

Even Patrick. No surprise, he's the bride's father after all.

The wedding ceremony went awesome.

It was during the couple's first marriage dance that they both felt happier than ever. But in the middle of the whole party and the whole thing, the two sneaked back inside the house while no one was watching. At the moment, they just wanted to sit on the couch and watch the TV. So they did just that.

At one moment, Gumball spoke to Penny.

"Penny...?"

"Yes, Gumball?" Penny said sweetly.

"Thank you," Gumball said peacefully.

"For what?" Penny asked, confused.

"For being there for me," Gumball said. Penny smiled. That's how they both knew they were happy. "I love you," he added.

"I love you too," Penny said back. Then, they kissed each other passionately, and went back to watching the TV.

THE END (of alternate version)

 **So, there it is. This fanfic has come to an end. I hope you enjoyed reading it. Thank you for all the previous reviews, and leave some more of them. Bye!**


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